Top Countries for Wildlife Viewing - and What to Photograph There

Wildlife photography safaris have never been more popular, as constant advances in technology make incredible image capture more accessible to ordinary travelers. One study of millions of wildlife photos on a photo-sharing website has revealed which countries’ creatures are the subject of the most snaps – indicating the best places to go to photograph some of the planet’s most photogenic wildlife.

 

The survey of photos determined the number of wildlife photos as a percentage of all photos taken in a certain destination – to indicate in which countries people photographed wildlife most.

 

Some of the top countries for wildlife photography may surprise you!

Kenya comes out on top with the highest proportion of wildlife photos: 20.69% of the country’s tagged photos feature animals.

In fact, five of the top ten spots are clinched by sub-Saharan African countries: Kenya is joined by Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa. In all of these African countries, traditional, iconic, ‘Big Five’ safari creatures: lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards and rhinoceros, as well as giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, hippos, wildebeest and other, smaller creatures and birds like ostrich, dominate wildlife photography travel goals.

That Kenya, one of the titans of safari travel, tops the list may come as no surprise… but the next two in the top 3 spots might!

Canada actually had the most wildlife photos tagged overall – a higher absolute number than Kenya! But just slightly fewer as a percent of overall photography tagged Canada, indicating that Canada’s other, non-wildlife photo-worthy attractions pulled its rank of percentage of wildlife photography down a bit. 20.42% of photos tagged Canada featured wildlife.

Canada’s size and diverse landscapes, ranging from Arctic tundra to boreal forest, grasslands, ocean coastlines and more, mean that its iconic and most-photographed wildlife often live in completely different ecosystems, thousands of miles apart.

 

So lots of planning is required if it’s your goal to photograph a grizzly bear or a whale, a polar bear or a moose, an Arctic fox or an elk, leaping salmon or a lynx, a cougar or a puffin, a caribou or a beaver, an eagle or an orca.

And in the number three position with 19.19% of photos taken there featuring wildlife, a country that is famously an urban – not wild – jungle! Singapore is a city-state and is only 275 square miles in size – largely developed. But despite its vibrant urban setting, Singapore’s commitment to lush botanic gardens, wetlands and surrounding islands provide a setting for an astonishing range of wildlife – accessible to visitors with their cameras at the ready.

Singapore is a haven for lovers of birds and butterflies. Over 400 species of birds have been recorded on the island and its surrounding territories. Nature and wetland reserves and even Singapore Botanic Gardens are great places to spot hornbills, herons, and more tropical birds. Changi Airport has its own Butterfly Garden with a dazzling array of species and colors to awe arriving and departing visitors.

Spot otters in Singapore’s waterways; monitor lizards bask in the sun in nature and wetland reserves, and long-tailed macaques (pictured, top) are common sights in many of Singapore’s green spaces.